Skull Ring
The Skull Ring (called Ring of Varda in the North American versions of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, and Cursed Ring in Circle of the Moon) is a gold ring with a skull effigy attached to it which increases many stats greatly, although in most versions it's also cursed. The ring is similar to the Skull Necklace which appears in Aria and Dawn of Sorrow, which emphasizes in Defense, but is also cursed with a luck penalty. Game specific information ''Castlevania: Symphony of the Night First appearance of the '''Skull Ring' in the series, known as the Ring of Varda in the English version. Increases ATT by 10, STR by 30 (resulting in a total effect of ATT +40), INT by 30, DEF by 10, CON by 10 (resulting in a total DEF boost of +14), and LCK by 5. It is a scaled up version of the Ring of Feanor, which increases each stat to a lesser degree without the same relative emphasis on each. The ring can only be obtained by having completed the game at least once and using either a "CLEAR" or "REPLAY" save file. Once these requirements have been fulfilled, the Ring of Varda will be unlocked as the Paranthropus's rare drop (in a first playthrough, it would only drop Turquoises in its place). The first Paranthropus can be found in the Colosseum, although since the drop is very rare and at that point the player's LCK may not be very high, it could take a long time until the ring drops. To alleviate this hindrance, the player may opt to use "Alucart" mode (equip Alucart Sword, Alucart Shield and Alucart Armor) and/or play a "CLEAR"/"REPLAY" game in Luck Mode, as well as equip the Ring of Arcana if available. Paranthropuses are encountered again much later in the game and in greater numbers in the Reverse Outer Wall. ''Castlevania: Circle of the Moon The ring is cursed in ''Circle of the Moon and in later games, and requires a luck sacrifice in order to gain the other stats. While it increases STR and DEF by 30, it reduces LCK by 100. ''Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin In ''Portrait of Ruin, the ring increases many stats (STR, CON, INT, and MIND, all by +6), but reduces LCK by 13 and also curses the wearer, leaving them unable to use sub-weaponry or magic spells until the ring(s) are unequipped. This curse is unavoidable, even wearing a Blessed Ring in conjunction does nothing. The curse doesn't come without its boons, however; an example would be if the player has the last three digits of their total gold as "7" (777). As a result, those who value the use of magic in combat, or those who prefer their LCK at their best, would do well to leave the rings off, but for others the drawbacks are not a problem and they can use the ring's benefits to deadly advantage. Alternatively, if the player equips the Magus Ring, the regeneration effect will negate the curse's MP drain. Item Data Trivia *Varda is the "Queen of Stars", a reference to J. R. R. Tolkien's lore. Its description in Symphony of the Night, however, is closer to that of the One Ring that formed the crux of the plot of The Lord of the Rings. Category:Gold Category:Luck Assets Category:Rings Category:Skull Items Category:Tolkien Lore Category:Circle of the Moon Items Category:Dracula X Chronicles Items Category:Harmony of Despair Items Category:Portrait of Ruin Items Category:Symphony of the Night Items